50th Birthday

I’m sure we all have memories of the King of Pop. Mine are from junior high. The summer between 7th and 8th grade. Randy and I were the ‘it’ couple of the summer. The Thriller album had just come out. We spent about two days doing nothing but listening to that cassette tape and memorizing the lyrics. A few days later, Randy and I went to Magic Mountain with Tiffany, Ginger, Danielle and David. All the way up to Ventura, Randy and I sang Ma Ma Se Ma Ma Sa Ma Ma Coo Sa, Ma Ma Se Ma Ma Sa Coo Sa of “Pretty Young Thing” without missing a beat. We were so cool.

Madge recently turned 50, too. High school was all about Madonna. I remember wearing white shoe boots with a white skirt and a jean jacket with some scarf thing, thinking I was a wee little bit like her. I loved her music, but when she rolled around on the stage singing “Like a Virgin” at the Grammys, I knew I wasn’t ever going to be that kind of girl. A bit too rough around the edges. I was a little (ok – a lot) more preppy and clean cut than that. All of my friends were.

And Prince. He turned 50 in June. The itsy, bitsy dynamo who loves purple. His songs defined many moments of my teenage years. At every school dance we tried to party like it was 1999, even though we had no idea what 1999 would look like, and boy was that SO far off in the future. That year has come and gone – Was it all we thought it would be? If anyone saw him perform at this year’s Superbowl, you know he’s still got it. Freaky little dude. But he’s still got it.

With my 20 year high school reunion approaching next weekend, and the news that these icons of my youth are 50, I suppose I’m feeling a bit old today. Just more a sense of disbelief, really. Where DOES the time go? And what the hell happened to Michael Jackson? Really.

As I was browsing the net, I found a couple of good articles about Michael, Madonna and Prince. Have a look. And let me know how you feel about celebrating their 50th.